A NORTH East born entrepreneur, who has achieved international success with her commitment to plant based food and cosmetics, will be sharing her story as part of Sunderland Business Festival.
Heather Mills, whose achievements also include being a world-record holding athlete and campaigning to help people who have been negatively impacted by war or who are dealing with physical debilitation, had blazed a trail with her Peterlee-based company, VBites.
Heather, originally from Washington, became a vegan in 1993, believing it would aid her recovery following the amputation of her left leg.
Committed to helping people have a healthier, more sustainable life, Heather created her company with the aim of offering plant based alternative food.
VBites has now grown to become one of the world’s largest manufacturers of meat, fish and dairy free foods, currently sold across 24 countries.
It is the growth of this company – plus the creation of her vegan algal oil business and her vegan make up range – and her life in general which she will talking about at a special event at 1719, Sunderland’s former Holy Trinity Church, on Thursday 13 October.
The talk – which will run from 11am to noon – is part of a wide programme of events for this year’s Sunderland Business Festival, which takes place from 12-14 October.
The festival is organised by Sunderland Business Partnership and chair
Ellen Thinnesen, who is also chief executive of Sunderland College (part of Education Partnership North East) and chair of the North East Local Enterprise Partnership Skills Advisory Panel, believes this will be a fantastic opportunity to hear about Heather’s success.
“VBites is an incredible company and this will be a rare opportunity to hear Heather talking about setting up the business and hopefully will inspire other entrepreneurs,” she said.
“Heather has also set up VBites Ventures, which has helped other plant based start-ups so this is a great chance for anyone wanting to operate in this field to find out more.”
The event is free but tickets must be booked in advance at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/
It is one of many events taking place during the festival which includes a recruitment fair at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday 12 October and throughout the three days there will be expert presentations, panel discussions, ‘on the sofa’ conversations with industry leaders and behind the scenes tours.